Supposed to Be
by Lipton Lee
Summary: Supposed to be together... yeah. I think so. LIT
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Not mine! ASP's!  
  
Summary: Fluffy fluffy ficlet. Lit, AU, based a little on spoilers.  
  
Supposed to Be  
  
Our hotel room is too nice. I don't know where he got the money for it, but he says he had some stowed away. I don't know if I should believe him or not.  
  
It hardly matters now.  
  
He's let his hair grow a little. He's stopped doing it crazy-like. I don't know why. I haven't asked. I think maybe he needed a change. Or maybe he got sick of doing it up every morning and having to worry about it.  
  
It makes him look a little older. More serious. More real, somehow. He's still Jess. He still snaps and holds his tongue whenever possible. He still smokes cigarettes.  
  
He's more morose than he was. I see it when we're about to fall asleep. I see his eyes darken and become sad. He knows we can't go back to what we were. Who we were. We can't be stupid kids anymore. He knows that if things don't work out way out here, on the rode, things will never work out.  
  
And he's trying. You should see him. He smiles for me a little sometimes. He bought me flowers at a gas station a couple of days ago. He tells me things.  
  
He wants to be with me. He loves me.  
  
And god help me, I love him.  
  
I love Jess Mariano.  
  
He's sleeping now. His face buried in my neck, his soft breath tickling the skin there a little. His arm around me. Naked.  
  
Yup. Naked.  
  
I'm naked, too.  
  
We had sex.  
  
We had...sex.  
  
We.  
  
Had.  
  
Sex.  
  
Still trying to come to terms with that.  
  
There was no pressure. There were no misunderstandings. I made the first move. I took off his pants first. It just kind of happened.  
  
I cried a little afterwards. I think he suspects I regret it. I think he thinks that I'm ashamed.  
  
I'm neither.  
  
"Supposed to be together."  
  
Those were his words, and he was right. A few months ago, I was trying to shut him out of my mind. To just forget everything about him. Forget the way his eyes would study the pages in a book. Forget the way his hands fit perfectly with mine. Forget everything we have in common. Forget everything.  
  
And, as you can see... it didn't work. Not at all.  
  
Because here we are. In bed. Naked.  
  
Naked.  
  
God, I really need to stop obsessing about this.  
  
I guess I just wasn't expecting it to happen. I think I was expecting less from it. From everything I've read about The First Time, supposedly it's not all it's cracked up to be.  
  
But...  
  
It was...  
  
He was...  
  
And we...  
  
I tighten my arms around him and kiss his hair. He shifts a little closer to me and I smile.  
  
"Supposed to be together."  
  
Yeah.  
  
I think so. 


	2. Drive on

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money. Don't sue.  
  
A/N: This is a companion piece to the Rory-centric "Supposed to Be." Jess's POV for this one.  
  
Summary: Ficlet. Alt. "Last Week Fights" outcome. She's his for one whole summer. Maybe it's enough. Maybe it isn't. Jess's musings.  
  
Drive On  
  
It's hot as hell, and my air conditioner broke three hours ago.  
  
I'm more uncomfortable than she is, surprisingly. My hair is considerably shorter than hers. It might be because she's in shorts and I'm in pants.  
  
She's smiling at me, telling me to stop the car.  
  
I do. I pull over to the side of the arid, deserted highway. I watch her unbutton her thin shirt and slide it off, tossing it behind her, onto the back seat. This leaves her in denim shorts, a slight undershirt and a purple bra. She digs a hair tie out of the glove compartment and puts her brown hair up into a messy ponytail.  
  
I smirk and slide off my sweat-soaked Metallica shirt, shoes, socks and jeans, leaving me in nothing but my thin, plaid boxers.  
  
She giggles and makes a comment that Luke's had a bad effect on my taste. I roll my eyes and lean against the driver's seat, just watching her. She's staring back, her eyes glimmering.  
  
She's so beautiful.  
  
And she's mine, if only for the summer.  
  
It's enough.  
  
I remember the night before, in the hotel, suddenly. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, because she doesn't seem to want to. We... I don't know if I've ever felt so alive before.  
  
I don't want this to end. Any of it.  
  
Huh.  
  
Maybe it really isn't enough.  
  
We shall see.  
  
She tells me I look tired and offers to drive, but I decline. I like this set-up. Me at the wheel, and her next to me with her bare feet hanging out the window.  
  
I start up the car again, and drive on. She turns on the tape player, and sings along loudly and off-key as The Clash play their play list from London Calling. I hum along sometimes, and she smiles at me when I do.  
  
We've been on the road for weeks, and she's smiled through more than half of it.  
  
She wants this.  
  
She loves me, I think.  
  
I know I love her.  
  
I don't know what I would have done if she'd said no to this. To me.  
  
Before I know it, the sun is setting.  
  
She asks me to stop the car again, and I do. We get out, dressing again before it starts cooling off for the night. We sit on the hood and talk about book wish lists a little before she wonders allowed what her mother is doing right now.  
  
I tell her to call and find out; and she says she will tomorrow.  
  
I nod. I know she misses home. I tell her that we'll turn around and head back soon. She says there's no rush. I give her a small smile and she kisses me, and pulls me close.  
  
We stay like this, kissing on the hood of my car until the sun has completely set, and it's dark.  
  
Slowly we slide off the car and get back in. She insists on driving, saying I should sleep. I get into the passenger's seat and she reaches over and kisses me again before starting the engine.  
  
I close my eyes.  
  
I hear Rory smile and feel the car start to move. "Goodnight, Jess. I love you." 


	3. The Great Return

Summary: AU. Definitely. Rory took Jess up on his "come away with me" offer. Three months later, they're back. Sequel to Supposed to Be and Drive On  
  
Thanks to Lydia for her input!  
  
The Great Return  
  
They came back to town on a sunny day in early August, parking the car in front of the diner.  
  
She looked nearly the same as she had when she'd left, except for the golden tan her skin had acquired, the little bit of maturity she'd gained and the length of her hair, which was halfway to her elbows. Her t-shirt was thin, and her shorts were frayed.  
  
He got out of the driver's side and looked around. He, too, looked a little older, with his skin a little darker than it normally was. He'd abandoned his leather jacket in the car, and was left in a plain t-shirt with his worn jeans.  
  
He walked around the car and she took his hand when he reached her.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
She shrugged. "Won't know until we go in."  
  
He nodded and gave her hand a little squeeze. "Count of three?"  
  
She smiled. "Count of three."

* * *

Luke looked up when the bell on the door rang. He nearly dropped the plate of food he'd been carrying. "Holy..."  
  
"Hey, Luke," Rory smiled. She looked confident. Almost serene. She smiled and let of Jess's hand to walk up and hug Luke tightly.  
  
Luke was caught off-guard for a moment, and thought about pushing her away to yell, and to lecture about the fact that she'd been missing for three months, but instead found himself returning the hug. She was an adult; her own person. He could no longer get away with reprimanding her as if she were a ten-year-old. He pulled her back to have a look. "The west really agrees with you."  
  
She smiled wider. "Thanks. How are you?"  
  
Luke nodded. "About the same as when you left. Things around here don't change too much."  
  
"Does that mean you still serve coffee?"  
  
He smirked. "Neither do you, I see."  
  
She grinned and held her hand out to Jess, who took slow steps to walk up and reclaim it.  
  
Luke and Jess stared intently at each other, neither one saying a word.  
  
After a few moments, Jess let go of Rory's hand and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out an envelope and handed it to Luke.  
  
"What's...?"  
  
"The money," Jess told him.  
  
Luke sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling. "Jess..."  
  
"I owed you. I told you that."  
  
Luke stared at his nephew again, understanding. He nodded, and looked down at the envelope, pulling out a piece of paper that was set amongst the crisp bills. He read the words "I'M SORRY" in black lettering that could only be Jess's.  
  
The two men stared at each other more.  
  
Rory watched them and smirked.  
  
"You ah..." Luke cleared his throat. "You wanna get Rory her coffee and then get a few orders?"  
  
Jess nodded and walked behind the counter to get to work.  
  
Rory sat down at the counter across from Jess and smiled at him. This was forgiveness... in a... detached... masculine sort of way.  
  
"And you better not have done anything illegal to get this cash," Luke snapped as he walked back to the storeroom.  
  
Jess rolled his eyes, and Rory snickered. She leaned across the counter and kissed him softly as he set the mug of coffee down in front of her. "See?"  
  
"We're not out of the woods yet," he told her, nodding to the door.  
  
She turned around, and immediately lost some of her confidence.  
  
Jess took her hand and kissed it gently before grabbing an order pad and walking over Taylor Doose's table. The aging man proceeded to choke on the juice he'd been drinking upon seeing the young man walk over to take his order with what passed for a smile in Jess Mariano's world. "Nice toupee."  
  
Lorelai Gilmore stood, frozen in the doorway.  
  
"Mom." Rory got off of her stool slowly.  
  
The room- maybe even time- stood still for them as they stared at each other. Rory with nervous fear and Lorelai with complete shock.  
  
"Rory...?"  
  
"Hi, Mom."  
  
Lorelai stood in silence for a long moment before rushing forward and throwing her arms around her daughter. "You are in so much trouble!"  
  
Rory sniffed back happy tears and gave Jess a glance and a smile over her mother's shoulder.  
  
Jess gave her a smirk, and slid his pencil behind his ear. 


End file.
